Matt Damon, we know you mean well, but please don’t talk about things you don’t understand.
In an interview with the Guardian on Sept. 27, Matt Damon gave his opinion on gay actors’ keeping their sexuality private to the eye rolls and disappointed sighs of actual gay actors everywhere.
He prefaced his advice with an explanation of his own experience of being questioned about his sexuality with Ben Affleck while they were working on “Good Will Hunting” together in the ‘90s. He called the experience “deeply offensive” at the time. He went on to talk about how difficult it can be for gay actors in the industry and that perhaps it is just best “people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality.”
It’s true getting work is a well-known difficulty for gay actors, but being complacent in devaluing gay actors is not the solution — it is part of the problem.
In the ‘90s, having your sexuality questioned probably was meant as an insult by the people questioning you because being gay was heavily stigmatized.
Through time, people have been trying to chip away at this stigma. Having public figures come out as gay has helped tremendously. Hollywood is an extremely visible industry, and it has a large effect on the opinions of the rest of the country. Having extremely popular actors come out as gay not only provides role models for gay Americans, but it also serves as an education for ignorant Americans.
Damon’s comments also dismiss the emotional trauma that can result from being forced to stay in the closet in order to maintain your career. Actress Ellen Page came out in 2014, with the poignant statement “I’m tired of hiding, and I’m tired of lying by omission.”
She has spoken about how difficult it was to remain closeted. In an interview with Variety, she describes how she felt before coming out as “uninspired, and lost the love and joy I felt in making films.”
In the same interview, Page addressed the toxic misconception that gay actors cannot play straight roles, as she said “For whatever reason, people can believe straight actors playing gay roles, but there’s this idea they can’t believe gay actors playing straight roles.” This is the same industry standard Damon referenced in his Guardian interview, but Damon completely misses the double standard.
In the same interview in which he claims mystery is a necessity, he discusses his own life with his wife and children, which clearly establishes him as straight. Why does he not have to retain that mystery, especially if he is going to play gay characters, as he does in “Behind the Candelabra”?
Why is it that American audiences consider Damon brave for taking on a sexuality other than his own, but gay actors are barely even given the chance? Neil Patrick Harris, a gay actor, played a straight man on television for nine seasons. Is he not just as brave?
This type of thinking reflects an industry standard that is toxic, not only to actors, but to the audiences of these films. This is just proof the industry needs people like Harris and Page, two popular and talented public figures, to come out and fix the stigma.
That is the point that Damon is failing to grasp in his comments to the Guardian. Yes, it may be easier for an actor, but its better for the LGBTQ community as a whole not to be complacent in an industry that acts like your sexuality is a flaw.
